Should AMLC, BIR also fight jueteng?

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Wednesday suggested that the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the Bureau of Internal Revenue be tapped in the government’s efforts to stamp out the illegal numbers game “jueteng.”

Deputy Speaker Lorenzo “Erin” Tanada said that since the two agencies were able to “divulge the liabilities of the highest magistrate (Renato Corona) of the land, then it can do the same to the lords of jueteng empire.”

And while other lawmakers like Zambales Representative Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay saw President Benigno Aquino III’s plan to replace the small town lottery (STL) with the Loterya ng Bayan as useless in the fight against the illegal numbers game, Tanada urged that the people to “trust the President on this.”

“Speculations that the solution at hand is merely a different dog with the same collar is premature,” said the Quezon lawmaker.

One legislator who said something to this effect was Magsaysay who described the new game as the same racket differing only in name.

“Whether STL or Loterya has different game mechanics, there is no assurance that we can eliminate jueteng,” said the Zambales lawmaker.

Tanada however felt that comments should be set aside until “the blueprint on how jueteng will be killed has been made public.”

“Jesse (Robredo) was working on a jueteng probe days before his plane crashed. We really should put our heads together on this and help Aquino  and the country,”  he added.